The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Chief Minister flays TDP

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Wednesday, Jul 25, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Chief Minister flays TDP

Special Correspondent

Obulapuram ‘drama’ was pre-planned, says YSR

Telugu dailies functioned as Telugu Desam leaflets, says YSR
‘False stories planted on regular basis as part of campaign’

HYDERABAD: Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy has described the attempted visit of the Obulapuram mines by the Telugu Desam leaders as a “big drama” enacted under the supervision of their leader N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Replying to a debate on Obulapuram incidents in the Assembly on Tuesday, Dr. Reddy said two Telugu dailies that functioned as “Telugu Desam leaflets”, had made it a mission to highlight this drama, ignoring the truth.

There was ample proof that one of these papers was owned by Mr. Naidu himself. He said these dailies were planting “false” stories on a regular basis as part of their sinister campaign to discredit and destabilise his Government with the grouse that “he had succeeded where the Telugu Desam Government failed”. This became all the more evident when they gave a truncated version of the Obulapuram incident.

“Whatever be the writings in such “cheap” papers, nothing will happen,” he said.

That the Obulapuram “drama” was pre-planned became clear as the Telugu Desam sought permission on July 19 but went ahead with the visit the very next day without waiting for the Government’s response.

Ban orders were imposed to prevent the visit and thus protect the Telugu Desam team from blasts in the area and from the anger of the locals.

Captured on TV

As the police prevented the team, E. Dayakar Rao rained blows on a policeman. This was duly captured by TV cameras.

Instead of reporting this assault, the two papers chose to describe that Mr. Rao fell unconscious because of police blows. The Chief Minister handed over a CD and photos showing the actual happening, to Speaker K. R. Suresh Reddy, asking him and floor leaders to verify truth from them.

To mislead the public, the two newspapers carried reports earlier, describing the 10,000 acre site allotted to M/s Brahmini Steels, as a sanctuary endowed with “streams, valleys, and wildlife” and even “wild cows” although it was rocky wilderness devoid of even rabbits. The Chief Minister castigated the Telugu Desam leadership for describing G. Janardhan Reddy, promoter of Brahmini Steels, as “a criminal”.

He regretted the attack on Mr. Janardhan Reddy’s house in Hyderabad by TDP workers.

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